Battling is the basis for all rap music. In a rap battle, the rapper with the best delivery, lyrics, and crowd response usually wins. By writing your own rap songs, freestyling as often as possible, staying relaxed, and feeling the energy of your crowds, you'll not only survive these battles, but you'll thrive, rising to the top of the heap.

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Steps

1

Watch videos online of battles, or try to go to rap battles near your hometown. Check out websites like rapt.fm. Study some freestyle raps done by accomplished artists who are well known for their rap battles. You can learn a lot from rappers like Eyedea, Atmosphere, Tech N9ne, AMB, Nas, Eminem, Tupac, Jin and Biggie. Good battles to look up include the Blaze Battles from HBO, Scribble Jam, among others. There is also a scene in the movie 8 Mile that is a good representation of what a freestyle rap battle is really like. Pay careful attention to the techniques those artists use to battle, and try to mirror them which will help you enhance your own techniques.

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2

Start writing rap songs. Write down anything that comes to mind and try to rhyme it. Write rap lyrics and then choose the best rhymes to go with them. Consider getting a rhyming dictionary. The ability to write an effective battle rhyme will aid you when it comes to the battle. (Note: Some rappers don't write everything down, they keep everything in their head so that they can only talk about what's “real.”) Don't try to force rhymes all the time, though. Just let it come naturally and try your best.

3

Practice freestyling. Rapping without pre-written lyrics on the spot or impromptu should be done anytime, anywhere, as much as you can. While you’re at it, practice freestyling battle rhymes. Even if it means looking at a photo, thinking about an ex, or imagining a future opponent, do whatever you can to come up with clever new ways to insult. Whenever you think you’ve run out of things to freestyle about, just keep going; the longer you force yourself to rap without giving up, the stronger and more flexible you'll become mentally.

4

Start freestyle battling. The best way to start battling is to find opponents just for fun. Have rap battles with friends that don't care if you insult them – or mess up, for that matter. Battle as often as you can, especially if you can find a friend who is actually good at it and can help you improve. Once you’re confident that you’re good at it, try your skills at house parties and rap concerts, which are also good places to practice your techniques before actually entering a stage battle.

5

Relax. Staying calm will not only help you keep your cool while your opponent disses you, but also allow you to focus on coming up with a good response. Not only that, but keeping calm will improve your delivery, which can make or break an insult: since the hallmark of good delivery is timing, allowing your mind (and mouth) to race in panic can cripple the best diss.

Breathe deeply. Deep breathing stimulates the Vagus nerve, which has a calming effect on the body and mind.[1] In fact, some researchers believe that making a habit of relaxing and breathing deeply can change the way that your genes express themselves,[1] making you calmer person all around.

Have key words that you can return to. These words will help you out if you’re drawing blanks. Know what words rhyme with your key words, allowing you to use them more often because you know what flows with them.

6

If you’re first to spit, make the most of it. Though it may seem harder to go first because it gives your opponent lots of opportunities to make comebacks, you can take that ability away by being self-deprecating. Self-criticism can be very unexpected for the opponent trying to find your flaws. In 8 Mile's final battle, for example, B-Rabbit was put to spit first and decided to insult himself before Papa Doc got a chance (Yes, I'm white, yeah I am a bum, I do live in a trailer wit my mom, my boy future is an "Uncle Tom"...So what?), leaving Papa nothing to retaliate with.

7

Use humor in your rhymes, especially if your opponent is dead serious. Humor can be deadly; getting the audience to laugh at an opponent is a great way to deflate them – especially if (s)he ends up cracking up too. If you can get your opponent to agree with you during your battle verse, you are making great strides towards a win.

8

Don't worry if you lose your first few real battles. The point is to constantly practice freestyling and writing. The longer you do it the better you'll become, so keep it up till you've got it down.

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Tips

When in a rap battle, you want to make sure that your verse includes three major things:;

Similes - Making comparisons with your opponent to something that insults them. Try to link it with something going on in the world at the moment that everyone is familiar with.

Disses - You want to diss your opponent on broad topics (how they dress, speak, spit, look, walk, talk, and act) as well as personality (their past, their lifestyle, and other personal weaknesses).

Humor - Make the crowd and judges and even your opponent laugh. Sometimes that will win the battle for you.

If you made pre-writtens, don’t let them hold you back. You’ll often find your best material in the moment.

Try to stay calm and focus on the rapping, not who is watching.

Battle raps are made up of two parts: a set up and a punch line. The set up is a line that is an opener or rhyme line that your punch-line (where the insult is) will follow. A Punch-Line is basically a line that incorporates a Metaphor, Diss, and/or anything else to enhance the flow directed at your opponent.

Example: In Nas' song called Ether (a famous rap battle song directed towards Jay-Z) he says "Put it together (the set up), I rock hoes y'all Roc-Fellas" (the punch line is an insult using the name of Jay-Z's rap label and insinuating that Jay-Z and his camp prefer men over women).

Don't look down. When you look down, you look defeated.

Smash them with punchlines. Lyricism is important, but usually three or four punchlines will make sure you win.

If someone beats you in a battle and it gets to you, practice more until you think you're really ready. Then challenge them again: if you win, you will earn a lot of respect back. It's a great feeling, and chicks or dudes will dig your system and flair.

You should prefer facts and actualities in your freestyle rap battle, they will reduce your opponent's self-confidence.

While your opponent is rapping, you should be figuring out what you are going to say in your next verse. But be careful not to tune your opponent out, because sometimes the insults they say to you can be flipped (re-directed as an insult towards the person who said it) and used to your advantage.

Try to have an "arsenal" of comebacks/disses you can use in any situation, and keep them memorized. This is very helpful when you hit a blank, as they can make you look very awkward. The most commonly used arsenal rap is one that insults their rhymes, as these can be used no matter what they say. Likewise, when your opponent is using a dis against your rhymes, that's when you hit him hardest, as it means he's running out of things to say.

Make sure that the lyrics match the beat, because the beat is an important factor in the final process in a rap battle. Also, learn to accept that it's only a vocal battle and there is no chance of you actually losing your life, surviving a rap battle is easier than it seems.

Be sure to drink water and hydrate before and after the battle.

Don't brag about what you've got just say the truth.

Warnings

Make sure to never copy someone else's lyrics.

If you feel sick before the battle and you still want to get in there, look calm and ready to battle because your opponent could insult you on how you look (only do a battle when you are sick if you are confident about going in).

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